Karim Khan Citadel in Shiraz

The citadel of Karim Khan stands in the very centre of Shiraz and was the core of the city that the Zand ruler made his capital in the 1760s. The rectangle of walls, about eighty by one hundred metres, is reinforced by four round towers almost fourteen metres high; the masonry is of fired brick laid in patterns of diamonds, zigzags and basketweave, different on each tower. The south-eastern tower leans noticeably: a bathhouse stood beneath it, the ground subsided from the water, and the tower has stayed in that position. Inside the walls there was a residential courtyard with a pool and orange trees, and formal halls with painted vaults and windows of coloured glass that throw patches of blue and red onto the brick floor. Under the Qajars the citadel served as the governor's residence, and after that, until 1971, it held the city prison, and part of the painting was lost then. After restoration the arg is open as a museum. There is a museum inside and an entrance fee; the courtyard has an orange garden with a pool, and the halls have painted vaults and coloured stained glass. It stands right in the centre, next to the Vakil Bazaar and the mosque, so the whole Zand ensemble is walked round in one go. Payment in cash.

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